Ben Carson: I'll Announce My Presidential Plans by May

By May 1, retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson will announce his decision on whether he plans to seek the White House in 2016, he said Sunday on ABC's "This Week," RealClearPolitics reports.

When asked by host George Stephanopoulos to make a 30-second case against Hillary Clinton, Carson was quick to say he didn't want to make it "specifically about Hillary."

"I want to make it about those who want the United States to be a country where the government conforms to the will of the people, versus those who want the people to conform to the will of the government and that's the big divide that we have right now," he said.

"That's what the people are talking about. That's what they talked about a couple of weeks ago in the election," he said.

"They are saying, isn't this our country? Isn't it for, of and by the people? This is what we need to be talking about. I don't care if it's a Democrat or Republican. That's who needs to be up front."

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Conservative political strategist Matthew Dowd, who helped re-elect President George W. Bush, and left-leaning publisher of The Nation, Katrina vanden Heuvel, both told Stephanopoulos they think a Carson candidacy would be a good thing.

"I hope Dr. Carson runs because I think we'd be behooved in this country by anybody participating in the process," Dowd said.

"And part of the problem is people have stepped back — good people have stepped back — that are smart at this process and haven't tried to serve and I think it would be benefit whether or not I agree with you on the issues, he said, adding that the GOP would benefit from someone coming from outside of Washington, D.C.

Vanden Heuvel agreed, though she remarked that it's a bit of an over-read to say the election results translate into the American people wanting an "anti-establishment candidate."

Carson disagreed.

"I don't think it's over-read at all because I'm in four or five states a week," Carson said.

"I've been for the last year and a half, and I predicted a long time ago what the results of the election would be because I'm hearing what the people are saying."

He was vague about where he stood on the Gang of Eight's 2013 bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill (saying he would need to read it thoroughly), but he criticized President Barack Obama for issuing an executive amnesty order, according to Breitbart News.

Last week on The O'Reilly Factor, Carson offered a bit more specifics about how he might address illegal immigration.

"As far as the immigrants are concerned, we need to reverse the polarity of the magnet that is attracting them," he said. "Get rid of all the benefits that are pulling them in here and secure the border."